The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer

The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer was put on by the Barkers company. A barker was a, "character of the fairground or itinerant theatre company, who stood at the door of the booth and by his vociferous and spellbinding patter induced the audience to enter" (ORO, barker). It makes sense for this specific company to have the first show of the grouping because they could draw an audience in and get them ready for the rest of the shows that were to come.

This play is about what you would expect, the creation and fall of Lucifer. The play is written in alliterative verse with a rhyme-scheme ababcddc and sometimes ababcccc. Lucifer is also known as the devil. So this play is all about how the devil came to be. Lucifer was, "the rebel archangel whose fall from heaven was supposed to be referred to in Isaiah 14:12; Lucifer was traditionally interpreted as the name of Satan before his fall" (ORO, Lucifer). The story is basically that of, "the pride of Lucifer, the first of the angels, and his wish to equal God. Lucifer and his followers were then expelled from the celestial paradise and condemned, for their greater suffering, to dwell eternally on earth and in the infernal depths" (ORO, demon). So overall, this play is the beginning, when God started created his first angels and then the banishment of those who turned evil. Thus, creating the devil and hell.

Sources Used:

"Barker"  The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Ed. Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t79.e223

"Lucifer"  A Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Edited by Elizabeth Knowles. Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t214.e4206

Jérôme Baschet, Irène Sorlin "demon, demonology"  Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Ed. André Vauchez. © 2001 by James Clarke & Co. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (e-reference edition). Distributed by Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  7 December 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t179.e804-s1>